Virtual competition environment

ABSTRACT

One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for facilitating a virtual competition environment. One or more users may register for access to the virtual competition environment in order to compete in various types of activities, such as workout activities, dance activities, real-world activities, and/or virtual activities. A user may be provided with activity assignments, user created activities, and/or challenge activities between groups of users through the virtual competition environment (e.g., the virtual competition environment may be accessible through a website, a mobile app, etc.). The user may upload activity results for activity assignments, which may be evaluated and/or ranked against how other users performed such activity assignments. The user may register as a judge in order to evaluate and/or rank activity results (e.g., evaluate videos of users performing an activity). Users and/or judges may be rewarded for participating in activities and/or judging activities.

BACKGROUND

Many users engage in various types of competitions, such as road races,dance competitions, weight lifting competitions, workout competitionscrafting competitions (e.g., building a sculpture, building a toothpickbridge, etc.), skateboarding competitions, fashion competitions,videogame competitions, and/or a wide variety of other activities withwhich users may compete. In an example, a fantasy football league mayallow users to create fantasy football teams that may be tracked throughan online interface and/or a pen and paper methodology. Such users maypay fees in order to participate in the fantasy football league, and thewinner may be awarded a payout from such fees.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key factors oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Among other things, one or more systems and/or techniques forfacilitating a virtual competition environment are provided. In anexample, the virtual competition environment may be accessible fromvarious devices of users (e.g., an app deployed on a mobile device; awebsite accessible through a personal computer; a cloud serviceaccessible to sports watches, GPS devices, tablet devices, videogameconsoles, and/or other electronic devices; etc.). Users may registerwith the virtual competition environment in order to compete in variousactivities and/or judge activity results of users. The virtualcompetition environment may group users into skill groups based uponvarious information (e.g., historical activity result data; usersupplied information such as age, weight, etc.; social networkinformation about the user; an output wattage derived from a poweroutput calculation regarding physical capabilities of a user; etc.). Inthis way, users may compete against similarly skilled users whenperforming an activity assignment. Groups of users may compete againstone other when performing activities, such as members of a first gymcompeting against members of a second gym. In an example, a user maycreate a user created activity that may be performed by other users. Inan example, a user may register as a judge in order to judge activityresults of users (e.g., the judge may review a video of a userperforming pushups in order to determine whether the user performed thepushups correctly). Users may be rewarded/compensated based upon howusers rank against other users that competed in an activity assignment(e.g., a top 3 users may be awarded credits to pay for future activityassignments, monetary compensation, and/or charity donations), andjudges may be rewarded/compensated for judging activity results. Thevirtual competition environment may comprise a social network and/or maybe socially integrated into other social networks (e.g., a user mayshare activity results; challenge other users; send messages to users;etc.)

In an example, a first user may register for access to the virtualcompetition environment (e.g., the first user may register a mobiledevice, such as a smart phone, tablet device, camera, sports watch, avideogame console, etc.). The first user may be provided with a firstactivity assignment. For example, the first user may be grouped into anintermediate skill group for workout activities based upon variousinformation about the first user (e.g., a power output metric derivedfrom various measurements of the first user, such as a shoulder width,an arm length, a height, workout results such as pull-ups, thrusters,etc.; historical activity results and rankings for the user; etc.). Thefirst activity assignment may be tailored for the intermediate skillgroup, and thus may be provided to the first user and/or other userswithin the first skill group. A first activity result may be receivedfrom the first user for the first activity assignment (e.g., a number ofsit-ups, a time to complete the sit-ups, a video of the user performingthe sit-ups, identifying information for the first user, and/or otherinformation regarding a sit-up activity assignment). The first activityresult may be evaluated to assign a first activity rank for the firstuser with regard to the first activity assignment. In an example, thefirst activity result, such as the video, may be provided to a judgethat may evaluate the first activity result. In another example, thenumber of sit-ups and the time to complete the sit-ups may be evaluatedagainst activity results of other users (e.g., within the intermediateskill group). In this way, the first activity rank may be assigned tothe first user for the first activity assignment. If the first activityrank is above a reward threshold, then a reward (e.g., credits topurchase activity assignments; money; a charity donation; etc.) may beprovided to the first user. The first user may view the first activityrank, the first activity result, and/or other historical activity datafor the user and/or other users, such as through a social network forthe virtual competition environment.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the followingdescription and annexed drawings set forth certain illustrative aspectsand implementations. These are indicative of but a few of the variousways in which one or more aspects may be employed. Other aspects,advantages, and novel features of the disclosure will become apparentfrom the following detailed description when considered in conjunctionwith the annexed drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method offacilitating a virtual competition environment.

FIG. 2 is a component block diagram illustrating an exemplary system forfacilitating a virtual competition environment.

FIG. 3 is a component block diagram illustrating an exemplary system forfacilitating a virtual competition environment.

FIG. 4A is a component block diagram illustrating an exemplary systemfor facilitating a virtual competition environment for workoutactivities.

FIG. 4B is a component block diagram illustrating an exemplary systemfor facilitating a virtual competition environment for cookingactivities.

FIG. 4C is a component block diagram illustrating an exemplary systemfor facilitating a virtual competition environment for item constructionand/or crafting activities.

FIG. 4D is a component block diagram illustrating an exemplary systemfor facilitating a virtual competition environment for dance activities.

FIG. 5A is an illustration of an example of an activity submissioninterface of a virtual competition environment.

FIG. 5B is an illustration of an example of a video submission interfaceof an activity submission interface.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example of a judge review interface of avirtual competition environment.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an example of a performance interface of avirtual competition environment.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an example of a social network interface ofa virtual competition environment.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of an exemplary computer readable mediumwherein processor-executable instructions configured to embody one ormore of the provisions set forth herein may be comprised.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary computing environment wherein one ormore of the provisions set forth herein may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are generally used to refer tolike elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providean understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident,however, that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, structures and devices areillustrated in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing theclaimed subject matter.

An embodiment of facilitating a virtual competition environment isillustrated by an exemplary method 100 of FIG. 1. At 102, the methodstarts. A virtual competition environment may provide an environment orinterface through which users may register to perform activities (e.g.,compete with other users or themselves), such as workout activities(e.g., a weightlifting competition, a running competition, an exercisecompetition, etc.), dance activities (e.g., a dance studio competition,a singing competition, etc.), school project activities (e.g., a sciencefair project), videogame activities (e.g., achieving a particular score,completing an objective within a certain time, locating an item,defeating a boss, etc.), crafting activates (e.g., creating asculpture), cooking assignments (e.g., decorating a cake), itemconstruction activities (e.g., building a catapult), real worldactivities (e.g., performing a work-related activity for payment, suchas creating and mailing fliers), virtual world activities (e.g.,performing internet related activities, such as advertising activities,reviewing products, testing software, creating or reviewing an app foran app store, etc.), and/or a wide variety of other activities that maybe monitored and/or tracked through the virtual competition environment.The virtual competition environment may be hosted such that users mayregister with and/or access the virtual competition environment fromvarious devices (e.g., the virtual competition environment may beaccessible from an application, a mobile app, a website, a web service,a cloud service, a sports watch, an automobile device, etc.).

At 104, a first user may be registered for access to the virtualcompetition environment. In an example, the first user may be assigned(e.g., and/or later reassigned) to a first skill group based upon a userprofile (e.g., the user may specify an ability to perform an activity;the user may specify physical attributes of the user, which may be usedto determine an output wattage for the first user; social networkinformation may be extracted; historical activity results data as to howthe user performed activities may be evaluated; and/or a wide variety ofother identifying information for the user). One or more other users maybe assigned to the first skill group, such as an expert skill group,such that users within the first skill group may be provided withactivity assignments that may be tailored to abilities of such users.Users may be ranked against other users within the first skill groupbased upon how the users perform activity assignments.

At 106, the first user may be provided with a first activity assignment.In an example, the first activity assignment may be provided to thefirst user for free. In another example, the first activity assignmentmay be purchased by the first user in exchange for credits and/ormonetary payment (e.g., a credit purchasing interface may be provided tothe first user, such that the first user may purchase credits used forparticipating in activity assignments). In another example, the firstactivity assignment is provided to the one or more users assigned to thefirst skill group. In another example, the first activity assignment maybe assigned to a threshold number of users within the first skill group,and when the threshold is met, the first activity assignment may be“closed” and a new iteration of the first activity assignment may begenerated to create a new first activity assignment. The new firstactivity assignment may be provided to users within the first skillgroup until the threshold is met. In this way, one or more iterations ofthe first activity assignment may be provided to users so that userswithin an iteration may be ranked against one another and/or rankedacross iterations.

At 108, a first activity result for the first activity assignment may bereceived from the first user. In an example, the first user may submittextual information describing performance of the first activityassignment (e.g., a number of repetitions and/or a time to perform aworkout activity). In another example, the first user may submit animage (e.g., a series of time stamped photos illustrating various stagesof creating a cake). In another example, if the first user has aparticipant rank above a threshold (e.g., the first activity result forthe first activity assignment may be above a threshold such as a top 15%of users; historical activity results for the first user may indicatethat the first user has a historical participant rank above thethreshold; etc.), the first user may be requested to submit a video ofthe first user performing the first activity assignment. It may beappreciated that a wide variety of information may be received as thefirst activity result (e.g., GPS information, a video clip from playinga videogame, temporal information, an audio recording, etc.).

The first activity result may be evaluated to assign a first activityrank for the first user with regard to the first activity assignment. Inan example, a completion time and/or a number of repetitions/sets for aworkout activity may be compared with activity results of other users(e.g., compared against a set of activity results received from one ormore users within the first skill group, such as users within the sameiteration of the first activity assignment that was provided to thefirst user), such that the first user may be ranked against the otherusers. In an example, the first activity result may be provided to ajudge registered with the virtual competition environment (e.g., acertified workout user, a certified builder, a certified chef, aprofessor, a person having a relatively extensive knowledge basis withregard to an activity, etc.). For example, a video of the first activityresult may be provided to the judge for evaluation of the video. In anexample, an evaluation time limit may be provided to the judge. Theevaluation time limit may specify a time by which the judge is toaccept, reject, and/or assign an activity rank for the video. The judgemay be instructed to verify that the first user utilized a valid videofor the first activity assignment (e.g., verification of a clock withinthe video; verification of a user id spoken by the first user;verification of a technique used to perform the activity; etc.). In thisway, the judge may evaluate the first activity result (e.g., through ajudge review interface provided to the judge), which may be used toassign the first activity rank to the first user. If the judge rejectsthe video, then an appeal process may be facilitated for the first user(e.g., resubmission of the video to a new judge; additional verificationfor the video; etc.). The judge may be compensated for judging thevideo, such as with a credit used to participate in activities, amonetary reward, and/or a donation to a charity selected by the judge.

In an example, a reward may be provided to the first user based upon thefirst activity rank. For example, the reward may comprise a credit usedto participate in other activities, a monetary reward, and/or a donationto a charity selected by the first user. An amount/value of the rewardmay be proportional to the first activity rank (e.g., a larger rewardmay be provided for relatively higher activity ranks). In an example, afirst user profile for the first user may be generated (e.g., and/orupdated where the first user profile already exists) based upon activityresults and/or activity ranks associated with the first user, such asthe first activity rank for the first activity result. The user mayaccess the first user profile, historical activity results, and/orhistorical activity ranks through a performance interface. In this way,the first user may track how the first user performed variousactivities, compare how the first user ranks against other users (e.g.,users within an iteration of an activity assignment; users within thefirst skill group; any registered user; etc.), and/or track statisticaldata derived from historical activity results of the user (e.g.,calories burned for a type of activity or a time period;increase/decrease in strength; accuracy of cake decorating; etc.).

In an example, the first activity result and/or the first activity rankmay be shared (e.g., internally through the virtual competitionenvironment and/or externally through another source) through a socialnetwork, a website, a leader board, an instance of the virtualcompetition environment on a device of a second user (e.g., as a pushnotification to other users registered with the virtual competitionenvironment), etc. For example, a social network interface may beprovided to users of the virtual competition environment. The socialnetwork interface may provide friends list functionality, messagingfunctionality, rank comparison functionality, activity information,activity results information, activity sharing functionality (e.g.,share or suggest an activity assignment with a second user), challengeinvitation functionality (e.g., a group of users may challenge anothergroup of users in an activity assignment), and/or social profilefunctionality.

In an example, user activity creation functionality may be provided tousers of the virtual competition environment. For example, a first usercreated activity may be received from the first user (e.g., the firstuser may specify various parameters for a workout challenge, such asrepetitions, weight values, time constraints, etc.). In an example, thefirst user may specify whether rewards from participating in the usercreated activity are to be donated to charity, paid out to users above athreshold rank, etc. The user created activity may be provided to one ormore users registered with the virtual competition environment (e.g.,the workout challenge may be provided to a first gym and a second gym inorder to facilitate a competition between the first gym and the secondgym; the workout challenge may be provided to users within the firstskill group; etc.).

In an example, activities may be facilitated between groups of users(e.g., a competition between gyms, bakeries, dance studios, schools, artstudios, etc.). For example, a first user may be assigned to a firstuser group based upon the first user having membership to the first usergroup (e.g., the first user may belong to a first gym). A challengeactivity may be generated between the first user group and a second usergroup (e.g., one or more registered users of a second gym). Activityresults from the first user group may be ranked with activity resultsfrom the second user group to assign rankings to the first user group,the second user group, one or more users that are members with the firstuser group, and/or one or more users that are members with the seconduser group. In this way, users and/or groups of users may compete and/orbe ranked against one another through the virtual competitionenvironment. At 110, the method ends.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a system 200 for facilitating a virtualcompetition environment. The system 200 may comprise a virtualcompetition component 202. The virtual competition component 202 may beconfigured to register users for access to the virtual competitionenvironment. The virtual competition component 202 may be configured togroup users into skill groups 204 based upon various informationassociated with such users (e.g., user (A), user (D), use (G), and/orother users may be grouped into skill group (A) because such users haverelatively similar workout abilities). The virtual competition component202 may be configured to provide activity assignments 208 to users(e.g., a user may purchase activity credits, tracked within credit data210, which may be used to participate in and/or create activityassignments). For example, an activity assignment (A), an activityassignment (F), and/or other activity assignments may be assigned tousers within skill group (A). Activity result data 212 may be collectedfrom users that participate in activity assignments 208. The virtualcompetition component 202 may utilize judges 206 to evaluate and/or rankusers that submit activity results for activity assignments (e.g., ajudge (B) and a judge (D) may be available to evaluate activity resultsfor an activity type (A) such as swimming activities; judge (A) andjudge (M) may be available to evaluating activity results for anactivity type (B) such as running activities; etc.). For example, videoreview data 216, such as user submitted videos of activity results, maybe provided to judges for evaluation of activity results. The virtualcompetition component 202 may be configured to maintain reward data 218corresponding to rewards (e.g., credits, charity donations, money)provided to users for participating in activities and/or to judges 206for evaluating activity results. User profile data 220 may be maintainfor users based upon performance of activity assignments (e.g., activityranking information, activity results, etc.). The virtual competitioncomponent 202 may maintain social network data 214 through which usersof the virtual competition environment may interact and/or shareinformation.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a system 300 for facilitating a virtualcompetition environment 302. The system 300 comprises a virtualcompetition component 202. The virtual competition component 202 may beconfigured to provide one or more registered users, such as a firstuser, with access to the virtual competition environment 302. Thevirtual competition environment 302 may comprise a credit purchasinginterface 304 through which the first user may purchase activity creditsused to participate in activity assignments. For example, the first usermay view, purchase, and/or request activities through an availableactivities interface 318 (e.g., the available activities interface 318may provide an alert that 4 activities are accessible for the firstuser). The virtual competition environment 302 may comprise a skillgroup indicator 308. The skill group indicator 308 may indicate a skillgroup into which the first user is grouped, such as an intermediateskill group. The virtual competition environment 302 may comprise anactivity credits interface 310 that specifies a number of activitycredits that the first user has available for participating in activityassignments, creating user activities, creating and/or participating inchallenge activities, etc. The virtual competition environment 302 maycomprise an activity rewards interface 312 that specifies an amount ofmoney that the first user has earned from participating in activities,such as achieving a relatively high rank for activity assignments,challenge activities, user created activities, etc.

In an example, the first user may be registered with the virtualcompetition environment 302 as a judge (e.g., the first user may submitvarious credentials corresponding to one or more types of activities forwhich the first user is certified or knowledgeable). The first user mayaccess various activity evaluation information using a judge interface320 (e.g., the judge interface 320 may provide an alert that 8 activityresults may be available for the first user to view and/or evaluate as ajudge). The virtual competition environment 302 may comprise a judgedactivities interface 314 that may specify a number of activities thatthe first user has judged. The virtual competition environment 302 maycomprise a judge awards interface 316 specifying an amount of monetarycompensation that the first user has earned for evaluating activities.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a system 400 for facilitating avirtual competition environment 302. The system 400 may comprise avirtual competition component 202 that may be configured to provide oneor more registered users, such as a first user, with access to thevirtual competition environment 302. In an example, the first user mayspecify an interest in workout activities. Accordingly, the virtualcompetition component 202 may provide various workout activityassignments to the first user. In an example, an activity assignment (A)404 may correspond to pull-ups and thrusters. In another example, anactivity assignment (B) 406 may correspond to deadlifts and hang cleans.In another example, a user created activity 408 may correspond tojumping jacks (e.g., a second user, registered with the virtualcompetition environment 302, may create the user created activity 408 sothat other users may participate in the user created activity 408). Inanother example, a user challenge activity 410 may correspond to a 5mile run (e.g., the second user may challenge the first user to a 5 milerun, where the users may be given an opportunity to place credit bets ornot on who will win). In another example, a challenge activity 412 maycorrespond to a 300 sit-up challenge between a first gym with which thefirst user is a member and a gym (F). In an example, at least one of theactivity assignment (A) 404, the activity assignment (B) 406, the usercreated activity 408, the user challenge activity 410, and/or thechallenge activity 412 may be provided to the first user for free. Inanother example, at least one of the activity assignment (A) 404, theactivity assignment (B) 406, the user created activity 408, the userchallenge activity 410, and/or the challenge activity 412 may bepurchased by the first user using activity credits.

The virtual competition environment 402 may provide informationinterfaces 402 that may be invoked by the first user to view additionaldetails relating to an activity (e.g., FIG. 4C). For example, a videoclip of the activity being performed, textual instructions, images, aquestion/answer interface, additional constraints for the activity, userratings/reviews for an activity, and/or a variety of other informationmay be provided for the activity.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example of a system 430 for facilitating avirtual competition environment 302. The system 430 may comprise avirtual competition component 202 that may be configured to provide oneor more registered users, such as a first user, with access to thevirtual competition environment 302. In an example, the first user mayspecify an interest in cooking activities. Accordingly, the virtualcompetition component 202 may provide various cooking activityassignments to the first user. In an example, an activity assignment (A)434 may correspond to cooking an apple pie. In another example, anactivity assignment (B) 436 may correspond to creating an almond crustedsalmon. In another example, a user created activity 438 may correspondto decorating cupcakes (e.g., a second user, registered with the virtualcompetition environment 302, may create the user created activity 438 sothat other users may participate in the user created activity 438). Inanother example, a user challenge activity 440 may correspond tocreating a wedding cake topper (e.g., the second user may challenge thefirst user to create a Halloween wedding cake topper). In anotherexample, a challenge activity 442 may correspond to a desert challengebetween a first bakery with which the first user is a member and abakery (C). In an example, at least one of the activity assignment (A)434, the activity assignment (B) 436, the user created activity 438, theuser challenge activity 440, and/or the challenge activity 442 may beprovided to the first user for free. In another example, at least one ofthe activity assignment (A) 434, the activity assignment (B) 436, theuser created activity 438, the user challenge activity 440, and/or thechallenge activity 442 may be purchased by the first user using activitycredits.

FIG. 4C illustrates an example of a system 450 for facilitating avirtual competition environment 302. The system 450 may comprise avirtual competition component 202 that may be configured to provide oneor more registered users, such as a first user, with access to thevirtual competition environment 302. In an example, the first user mayspecify an interest in item construction and/or crafting activities.Accordingly, the virtual competition component 202 may provide variousitem construction and/or crafting activity assignments to the firstuser. In an example, an activity assignment (A) 454 may correspond tobuilding a birdhouse. Responsive to the first user invoking aninformation interface 402 a for the activity assignment (A) 454, atextual description 464 comprising instructions for the activityassignment (A) 454 may be displayed. In another example, an activityassignment (B) 456 may correspond to building a catapult. In anotherexample, a user created activity 458 may correspond to building a bridgefrom toothpicks, such that the bridge can hold 10 lbs. (e.g., a seconduser such as a school teach of the first user, registered with thevirtual competition environment 302, may create the user createdactivity 458 so that other users may participate in the user createdactivity 458). In another example, a user challenge activity 460 maycorrespond to building and staining a rocking chair (e.g., the seconduser may challenge the first user in a rocking chair buildingcompetition). In another example, a challenge activity 462 maycorrespond to building a 5 drawer dresser between a first craft groupwith which the first user is a member and a craft group (B). In anexample, at least one of the activity assignment (A) 454, the activityassignment (B) 456, the user created activity 458, the user challengeactivity 460, and/or the challenge activity 462 may be provided to thefirst user for free. In another example, at least one of the activityassignment (A) 454, the activity assignment (B) 456, the user createdactivity 458, the user challenge activity 460, and/or the challengeactivity 462 may be purchased by the first user using activity credits.

FIG. 4D illustrates an example of a system 480 for facilitating avirtual competition environment 302. The system 480 may comprise avirtual competition component 202 that may be configured to provide oneor more registered users, such as a first user, with access to thevirtual competition environment 302. In an example, the first user mayspecify an interest in dance activities. Accordingly, the virtualcompetition component 202 may provide various dance activity assignmentsto the first user. In an example, an activity assignment (A) 484 maycorrespond to a waltz dance. In another example, an activity assignment(B) 486 may correspond to writing and singing love songs. In anotherexample, a user created activity 488 may correspond to dancing to a newpop song (e.g., a second user, registered with the virtual competitionenvironment 302, may create the user created activity 488 so that otherusers may participate in the user created activity 488). In anotherexample, a user challenge activity 490 may correspond to a flutechallenge (e.g., the second user may challenge the first user to play aparticular song with a flute). In another example, a challenge activity492 may correspond to a combination of an Irish dance activity and asynchronized swimming activity between a first dance and aquatics studiowith which the first user is a member and a dance and aquatics studio(H). In an example, at least one of the activity assignment (A) 484, theactivity assignment (B) 486, the user created activity 488, the userchallenge activity 490, and/or the challenge activity 492 may beprovided to the first user for free. In another example, at least one ofthe activity assignment (A) 484, the activity assignment (B) 486, theuser created activity 488, the user challenge activity 490, and/or thechallenge activity 492 may be purchased by the first user using activitycredits.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example 500 of an activity submission interface502 of a virtual competition environment 302. A virtual competitioncomponent 202 may be configured to provide one or more registered users,such as a first user, with access to the virtual competition environment302. The first user may be provided with activity assignments, usercreated activities, challenge activities, and/or other activities withwhich the first user may participate. For example, the first user mayparticipate in an activity assignment (B) 406 corresponding to deadliftsand hang cleans (e.g., FIG. 4A). The virtual competition environment 302may provide the activity submission interface 502 first user so that thefirst user may submit activity results 504 for the activity assignment(B) 406 (e.g., textual results, an image, a video, etc.). The virtualcompetition component 202 may receive the activity results 504, whichmay be evaluated to assign an activity rank to the first user withregard to the activity assignment (B) 406. In an example, the first usermay have a participant rank (e.g., based upon the activity results 504for the activity assignment (B) 406 and/or based upon historicalactivity results for the first user) above a threshold (e.g., a top 5%of participants for the activity assignment (B) 406). Accordingly, avideo submission interface 552 may be provided to the first user so thatthe first user may submit a video for evaluation by a judge as to howthe first user performed the activity assignment (B) 406, as illustratedin example 550 of FIG. 5B.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example 600 of a judge review interface 602 of avirtual competition environment 302. Users of the virtual competitionenvironment 302 may register as judges in order to evaluate activityresults of users performing various types of activities. A virtualcompetition component 202 may provide the judge review interface 602 toa first judge registered for judging cooking activities. The judgereview interface 602 may provide a video 604 of a user performing a cakebuilding activity. The first judge may specify various information aboutjudging the cake building activity through the judge review interface602, such as a user ID spoken by the user, a time that it took for theuser to finish the cake building activity, a description of the cake,whether the judge accepts or rejects the video, etc. In an example, ifthe first judge rejects the video, then the user may appeal therejection. For example, the user may be provided with an appeal timelimit within which the user may submit an appeal. If the users submitsthe appeal within the appeal time limit, then the video is provided to asecond judge for evaluation. If the second judge rejects the video, thenthe rejection of the video is finalized. If the second judge accepts thevideo, then the video is provided to a third judge for evaluation. Thedecision of the third judge to accept or reject the video may be afinalized decision (e.g., a majority rule between the third judges). Inan example, the first judge may be constrained to a time limit withwhich the first judge is to review the video before the video isprovided to a second judge for evaluation. In this way, the user may beassigned an activity rank for the cake building activity by the firstjudge.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a performance interface 702 of avirtual competition environment 302. A virtual competition component 202may be configured to provide one or more registered users, such as afirst user, with access to a virtual competition environment 302. Thefirst user may perform various activities, such as activity assignments,user created activities, and/or challenge activities, which may beranked against other users that performed such activities. Theperformance interface 702 may provide historical activity results and/oractivity ranks associated with the first user, such as a push pressactivity summary 710, a first jumping pull-ups activity summary 712, asecond jumping pull-ups activity summary 714, and/or other activitysummaries not illustrated. An activity summary may specify an activityrank awarded for an activity assignment (e.g., a first place activityrank), credits earned for the activity assignment (e.g., 24 credits),and activity results for the activity assignment (e.g., 4:56 min toperform 50 push presses). The performance interface 702 may provide askill group rank interface 704 through which the first user may view howthe first user ranks against other users within a skill group with whichthe first user is assigned. The performance interface 702 may provide aglobal rank interface 706 through which the first user may view how thefirst user ranks against other users of the virtual competitionenvironment 302. The performance interface 702 may provide a socialinterface 708 through which the first user may share activity resultsand/or activity ranking information (e.g., send through an email; postto a social network; post to a website; post as a microblog message;etc.).

FIG. 8 illustrates an example 800 of a social network interface 802 of avirtual competition environment 302. The social network interface 802may allow a user to view/send messages, post an activity video to asocial network profile of the user, view social network feed information(e.g., activities, rankings, or other information shared by other usersof the virtual competition environment 302), share an image, view userprofiles, and/or perform a variety of other social network activitieswith other users of the virtual competition environment 302.

Still another embodiment involves a computer-readable medium comprisingprocessor-executable instructions configured to implement one or more ofthe techniques presented herein. An example embodiment of acomputer-readable medium or a computer-readable device is illustrated inFIG. 9, wherein the implementation 900 comprises a computer-readablemedium 908, such as a CD-R, DVD-R, flash drive, a platter of a hard diskdrive, etc., on which is encoded computer-readable data 906. Thiscomputer-readable data 906, such as binary data comprising at least oneof a zero or a one, in turn comprises a set of computer instructions 904configured to operate according to one or more of the principles setforth herein. In some embodiments, the processor-executable computerinstructions 904 are configured to perform a method 902, such as atleast some of the exemplary method 100 of FIG. 1, for example. In someembodiments, the processor-executable instructions 904 are configured toimplement a system, such as at least some of the exemplary system 200 ofFIG. 2, at least some of the exemplary system 300 of FIG. 3, at leastsome of the exemplary system 400 of FIG. 4A, at least some of theexemplary system 430 of FIG. 4B, at least some of the exemplary system450 of FIG. 4C, at least some of the exemplary system 480 of FIG. 4D, atleast some of the exemplary system 500 of FIG. 5, and/or at least someof the exemplary system 600 of FIG. 6, for example. Many suchcomputer-readable media are devised by those of ordinary skill in theart that are configured to operate in accordance with the techniquespresented herein.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing at least some of the claims.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system”,“interface”, and/or the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a controller and the controller can be a component. One or morecomponents may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and acomponent may be localized on one computer and/or distributed betweentwo or more computers.

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. Of course, manymodifications may be made to this configuration without departing fromthe scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 10 and the following discussion provide a brief, generaldescription of a suitable computing environment to implement embodimentsof one or more of the provisions set forth herein. The operatingenvironment of FIG. 10 is only one example of a suitable operatingenvironment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to thescope of use or functionality of the operating environment. Examplecomputing devices include, but are not limited to, personal computers,server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, mobile devices (such asmobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), media players, andthe like), multiprocessor systems, consumer electronics, mini computers,mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include anyof the above systems or devices, and the like.

Although not required, embodiments are described in the general contextof “computer readable instructions” being executed by one or morecomputing devices. Computer readable instructions may be distributed viacomputer readable media (discussed below). Computer readableinstructions may be implemented as program modules, such as functions,objects, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data structures, andthe like, that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstractdata types. Typically, the functionality of the computer readableinstructions may be combined or distributed as desired in variousenvironments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a system 1000 comprising a computingdevice 1012 configured to implement one or more embodiments providedherein. In one configuration, computing device 1012 includes at leastone processing unit 1016 and memory 1018. Depending on the exactconfiguration and type of computing device, memory 1018 may be volatile(such as RAM, for example), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory,etc., for example) or some combination of the two. This configuration isillustrated in FIG. 10 by dashed line 1014.

In other embodiments, device 1012 may include additional features and/orfunctionality. For example, device 1012 may also include additionalstorage (e.g., removable and/or non-removable) including, but notlimited to, magnetic storage, optical storage, and the like. Suchadditional storage is illustrated in FIG. 10 by storage 1020. In oneembodiment, computer readable instructions to implement one or moreembodiments provided herein may be in storage 1020. Storage 1020 mayalso store other computer readable instructions to implement anoperating system, an application program, and the like. Computerreadable instructions may be loaded in memory 1018 for execution byprocessing unit 1016, for example.

The term “computer readable media” as used herein includes computerstorage media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions or other data. Memory 1018 and storage 1020 are examples ofcomputer storage media. Computer storage media includes, but is notlimited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs) or other optical storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to storethe desired information and which can be accessed by device 1012. Anysuch computer storage media may be part of device 1012.

Device 1012 may also include communication connection(s) 1026 thatallows device 1012 to communicate with other devices. Communicationconnection(s) 1026 may include, but is not limited to, a modem, aNetwork Interface Card (NIC), an integrated network interface, a radiofrequency transmitter/receiver, an infrared port, a USB connection, orother interfaces for connecting computing device 1012 to other computingdevices. Communication connection(s) 1026 may include a wired connectionor a wireless connection. Communication connection(s) 1026 may transmitand/or receive communication media.

The term “computer readable media” may include communication media.Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions orother data in a “modulated data signal” such as a carrier wave or othertransport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. Theterm “modulated data signal” may include a signal that has one or moreof its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation in the signal.

Device 1012 may include input device(s) 1024 such as keyboard, mouse,pen, voice input device, touch input device, infrared cameras, videoinput devices, and/or any other input device. Output device(s) 1022 suchas one or more displays, speakers, printers, and/or any other outputdevice may also be included in device 1012. Input device(s) 1024 andoutput device(s) 1022 may be connected to device 1012 via a wiredconnection, wireless connection, or any combination thereof. In oneembodiment, an input device or an output device from another computingdevice may be used as input device(s) 1024 or output device(s) 1022 forcomputing device 1012.

Components of computing device 1012 may be connected by variousinterconnects, such as a bus. Such interconnects may include aPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), such as PCI Express, aUniversal Serial Bus (USB), firewire (IEEE 1394), an optical busstructure, and the like. In another embodiment, components of computingdevice 1012 may be interconnected by a network. For example, memory 1018may be comprised of multiple physical memory units located in differentphysical locations interconnected by a network.

Those skilled in the art will realize that storage devices utilized tostore computer readable instructions may be distributed across anetwork. For example, a computing device 1030 accessible via a network1028 may store computer readable instructions to implement one or moreembodiments provided herein. Computing device 1012 may access computingdevice 1030 and download a part or all of the computer readableinstructions for execution. Alternatively, computing device 1012 maydownload pieces of the computer readable instructions, as needed, orsome instructions may be executed at computing device 1012 and some atcomputing device 1030.

Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. In oneembodiment, one or more of the operations described may constitutecomputer readable instructions stored on one or more computer readablemedia, which if executed by a computing device, will cause the computingdevice to perform the operations described. The order in which some orall of the operations are described should not be construed as to implythat these operations are necessarily order dependent. Alternativeordering will be appreciated by one skilled in the art having thebenefit of this description. Further, it will be understood that not alloperations are necessarily present in each embodiment provided herein.Also, it will be understood that not all operations are necessary insome embodiments.

Further, unless specified otherwise, “first,” “second,” and/or the likeare not intended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, anordering, etc. Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names,etc. for features, elements, items, etc. For example, a first object anda second object generally correspond to object A and object B or twodifferent or two identical objects or the same object.

Moreover, “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example,instance, illustration, etc., and not necessarily as advantageous. Asused herein, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than anexclusive “or”. In addition, “a” and “an” as used in this applicationare generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specifiedotherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Also,at least one of A and B and/or the like generally means A or B or both Aand B. Furthermore, to the extent that “includes”, “having”, “has”,“with”, and/or variants thereof are used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising”.

Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Thedisclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and islimited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regardto the various functions performed by the above described components(e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure. In addition, while aparticular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed withrespect to only one of several implementations, such feature may becombined with one or more other features of the other implementations asmay be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for facilitating a virtual competitionenvironment, comprising: registering a first user for access to avirtual competition environment; providing the first user with a firstactivity assignment; and responsive to receiving a first activity resultfrom the first user for the first activity assignment, evaluating thefirst activity result to assign a first activity rank for the first userwith regard to the first activity assignment.
 2. The method of claim 1,the registering the first user comprising: assigning the first user to afirst skill group based upon a user profile associated with the firstuser; and providing the first activity assignment to one or more usersassigned to the first skill group.
 3. The method of claim 2, theassigning the first user to a first skill group comprising: performing apower output calculation for the first user based upon at least one ofthe user profile or historical activity results data for the first user,the power output calculation corresponding to an output wattage for thefirst user; and utilizing the output wattage to assign the first user tothe first skill group.
 4. The method of claim 2, the evaluating thefirst activity result comprising: comparing the first activity result toa set of activity results received from the one or more users assignedto the first skill group to generate the first activity rank.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, comprising: sharing at least one of the firstactivity result or the first activity rank through at least one of asocial network, a website, a leaderboard, a microblog message, an email,or an instance of the virtual competition environment on a device of asecond user registered with the virtual competition environment.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, comprising: receiving a user created activity fromthe first user; and providing the user created activity to one or moreusers registered with the virtual competition environment.
 7. The methodof claim 1, comprising: providing the first user with a reward basedupon the first activity rank, the reward corresponding to at least oneof a credit used to participate in an activity, a monetary reward, or adonation to a charity.
 8. The method of claim 1, comprising: assigningthe first user to a first user group based upon the first user havingmembership to the first user group; generating a challenge activitybetween the first user group and a second user group; and rankingactivity results from the first user group with activity results fromthe second user group to assign rankings to at least one of the firstuser group, the second user group, one or more users that are memberswith the first user group, or one or more users that are members withthe second user group.
 9. The method of claim 1, comprising: responsiveto determining that the first user has a participant rank above athreshold, requesting a video of the first user performing the firstactivity assignment; and generating the first activity rank based uponevaluation of the video.
 10. The method of claim 9, comprising:submitting the video to a judge registered with the virtual competitionenvironment for evaluation of the video.
 11. The method of claim 10,comprising: providing an evaluation time limit within which the judge isto at least one of accept, reject, or assign an activity rank for thevideo.
 12. The method of claim 10, comprising: instructing the judge toverify that the first user is utilizing a valid video for the firstactivity assignment; and receiving a verification from the judge. 13.The method of claim 10, comprising: providing the judge withcompensation based upon judging the video, the compensationcorresponding to at least one of a credit used to participate in anactivity, a monetary reward, or a donation to a charity.
 14. The methodof claim 10, comprising: responsive to receiving a rejection of thevideo from the judge, facilitating an appeal process for the first user.15. The method of claim 2, the providing the first activity assignmentto one or more users assigned to the first skill group comprising:responsive to the first activity assignment being assigned to athreshold number of user within the first skill group; generating a newiteration of the first activity assignment to create a new firstactivity assignment; and providing the new first activity assignment toone or more users within the first skill group.
 16. The method of claim1, the first activity assignment corresponding to at least one of aworkout assignment, a dance assignment, a school project assignment, avideogame activity assignment, a crafting assignment, a cookingassignment, an item construction assignment, a real world assignment, ora virtual world assignment.
 17. The method of claim 1, comprising:generating a first user profile for the first user based upon at leastone of historical activity results or activity ranks associated with thefirst user.
 18. The method of claim 1, comprising at least one of:providing a judge review interface through which a judge evaluatesactivity results of users; providing a credit purchasing interfacethrough which the first user purchases credits for participating inactivity assignments; providing a performance interface to the firstuser, the performance interface displaying at least one of historicalactivity results or activity ranks associated with the first user; orproviding a social network interface comprising at least one of friendslist functionality, messaging functionality, activity information,activity results information, activity sharing functionality, challengeinvitation functionality, or social profile functionality.
 19. A systemfor facilitating a virtual competition environment, comprising: avirtual competition component configured to: register a first user foraccess to a virtual competition environment; provide the first user witha first activity assignment; and responsive to receiving a firstactivity result from the first user for the first activity assignment,evaluate the first activity result to assign a first activity rank forthe first user with regard to the first activity assignment.
 20. Acomputer readable medium comprising instructions which when executed atleast in part via a processing unit perform a method for facilitating avirtual competition environment, comprising: registering a first userfor access to a virtual competition environment; providing the firstuser with a first activity assignment; and responsive to receiving afirst activity result from the first user for the first activityassignment, evaluating the first activity result to assign a firstactivity rank for the first user with regard to the first activityassignment.